Big Pincushions

Just a quickie....

Another bad picture taken with my faithful cell phone! LOL Got these finished the other day - not as much embellishment as I would normally put on them - but I have to fit them into a 3 hour class! LOL

HOpe you all have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Blessings, Bren :)

Dancing update...

So... we had our dancing lesson last night. :D First, I have to say - we are having a lot of fun! Everyone is in the same position - brand new and feeling like total clutzes! This week went better than last week - in my opinion. Since I wasn't going in the wrong direction half the time! LOLOL My husband and I did practice somewhat this last week, but we kept having to stop on that box turn - since we had alternating opinions as to how we're supposed to do it! (I was taught one thing with the teacher, and he was taught another with the other teacher and group.) So practicing just wasn't working out! LOL... turned out we were both a bit wrong!! (we were both open to that possibility also! Good thing, huh?) Anyway.... the instructor recapped the week before and had us do quick displays before moving on. When he got to the box turn, MANY hands went up!! LOL! Apparently we weren't the only ones that were having issues there! And once explained we all caught on very quickly (thank goodness!!) it wasn't all that difficult after all! They added in a second position move... very simple... but add it in to what we already knew... guys were constantly counting and girls were just going with the flow... sometimes on their own off in a different direction... sometimes being led by the guys. LOL Felt like a comedy of errors! We will DEFINITELY BE PRACTICING this week!!! :D It's still very strange rotating and dancing with 10 different men... as everything changes with each new partner!! But.. it's getting a little easier! (Thank God!!) But I'm always soo thrilled to be back to my husband with each rotation!! I know his gait, how long his legs are and how big his steps are. His height and frame feel comfortable in my arms and make everything a lot less awkward!! Next week is our last week for the Rhumba and then we start the Cha-cha! And then after 2 weeks, we're either done, or we sign up for level 2. (I think we'll be continuing! We'll see!!) Now... I sooo wish i had pictures of this... but I don't :( This weekend Dan and I were out in the garage practicing a little, and the girls came out and were mesmerized! LOL So Calli lines up behind dad and starts copying his footsteps! She had the whole thing DOWN PAT in about 5 minutes!?! (kids are just amazing!!) So we taught her, and then taught Emily... and us girls were all "line dancing" our part. Then the girls took turns dancing with their Daddy! How cool, huh?!? Their smiles couldn't have gotten any bigger!! When Bailey got home, I pulled him aside and taught him the same thing! Then the kids danced together partnering!! OK... so call me the biggest nerd on the planet!!! But that was so incredibly heart warming and NEAT! My smile couldn't have gotten any bigger!! LOL We're hoping that during a slow point in the week, we can show them what else we learned and continue it! And YES I will make sure to have my camera this time!!! :D And on a side note.... I have received quite a few emails about the hooker charm necklaces. If you would like to order one- I would love to make one just for you!! Just shoot me an email and let me know what you'd like! My email is: HeyDiddleWool@aol.com - figure out what you'd like on each side and let me know! They are $24 + 3 shipping. :) Thank you soo much for your interest!! I hope the sun is shining where you are, and the birds are singing, and spring is coming into full bloom! Bright blessings, Bren :)

Finding time to create...

I'm hoping you'll be able to enlarge this picture to actually see what these are! (Top and bottom pics - bottoms are the reverse of the one above it.)

Trying to find time to create in the busy rush of getting the workshop open and ready... and Emily's basketball season, and Bailey's soccer season... the hook-in, and camp coming up... well let's just say that creative time has been minimal to say the least! And it's during times of deadlines and lots of stress that I get the strongest urges to create! Thus.. That Thing I do ! (dan always rolls his eyes and says "oh.. is it time to make a quilt?" lol brat) And Jacque just cracks up and makes fun of me! :(

Sooo... i had been wanting to make these for some time. But it's a large spread out project...with hours and hours needed to give in to that "sit and play" mentality. So what better time than the night before the hook-in ???

Yes. I'm serious.

LOL

I had a few hours to spare - so why not? :D

It's that whole "I can make a quilt in a day!" thing.

cough*cough*idon'tevenquilt*cough

Anyyywayyyy... quit laughing at me!! It's a disease I tell ya!

This is what I came up with. Soldered Hooker charm necklaces! I am one that believes we hookers need to "mark ourselves" as such and stand proud! LOL

I had wayyy too much fun making these, and wanna make more! They make me smile - a big cheesy dorky smile!

I sold them at the hook-in on 24" ball chains, for $24.

And yes... i DID get them done and even packaged in time! :D

Felt soooooooo good to sit and PLAY!!!!! :)

This is also a class I am offering at the Workshop - so if you like them, and you're local - come on by!!!

Blessings, Bren :)

This week's news

The Denver Hook-in went well. Amazingly!! We were the lucky recipients of a ton of heavy wet snow the day before! My area got about 14".. and it just kept on comin!! Many of the mountain towns got close to 3 feet!!! Heavy slushy wet snow. Perfect for building a snowman, or building a fort! Perfect for breaking tree limbs and roofs! LOL Anyway... the roads were relatively clear.. once you made it out of your neighborhood and down to a main road. The key was getting out of your driveway! LOL!! But we got a call the night before, saying it was still on. We braved it, and just prayed that others would too, and people would show up!! Well... i would guess somewhere between 25-30 people made it! Which is more than we thought would! :) (Our norm is around 100-125). It was a great day, being around all the wool goodies, gorgeous rugs, and seeing friends!! Here's a picture of my booth, at the end of the day after being ransacked. :)

I was too busy talking and shopping to take any other pics!! But my friend had brought her "good" camera, and was taking a bunch! So she said she'd send them to me, so I can post pics of the rugs for you! :D Yay!! In other news... My husband and I are taking dance lessons. "General Latin" = the Rhumba, and the Cha-cha. We just started Monday night! (this is what I gave him for our anniversary)

So.. on that note.... we are DEFINITELY NOT like the two below!!! :D

Although we still have high hopes! LOLOL

That leg thing??? Not gonna happen!! Not now... or by the end of the lessons! :D We'll be lucky not to be stepping on each other's feet by the end of the lesson!! hahaha!! Much harder than it looks, that's for sure!

We started with the Rhumba... a basic box step. Then they added in a turn for the ladies. Managed that ok. Then they added in a box turn. Oh dear!! That's where I got all confused!

Now.. before i go any further with this... let me just say... there are 8 guys and 8 gals. And we have to rotate and dance with all the guys. (not getting to dance with my honey kinda stunk!) So there we all are, muddling through.. with complete strangers of all shapes and sizes! VERY INTERESTING to say the least! LOL!!

And next... something I had no idea that mattered. I'm a lefty.

So? You say?

LOL That's not normally a hinderance! It's actually a benefit in most cases!!

But.. as i found out.. throws ya all off in dancing and marching in the military! LOL

You as a righty... if you are standing still... and someone says walk... what foot do you lead with? Every time?? Yep!! You always lead with your left, right?

Me? I ALWAYS lead with my right!

hahaha... i conquered that.. for the most part anyway. And I'm trying to learn to follow and not lead! ;) (which means the guys haave to step up and actually LEAD!)

Well... they threw in that last turn (i was doing good up until then!! Honest!!) and my partner and I got all confused! I went left, he went right. Which leg are we supposed to use?? Left?? ok... no? Right??? ok... lolol it was hilarious!!

Well i got a little private lesson from the owner of the studio at that point. Lucky me! LOL

He was a really really nice guy! And extremely patient... and an excellent teacher!! He had me dancing!!! woohoo!!!! I was very excited!! :D Then when the lesson was over... he put me and Dan back together... and we immediately tripped over one another! LOL!

So it's not lookin too good..... YET!!

But we WILL get this!!

We may not end up looking like Mark and Shawn - but we will figure out a way to hold our own!

haha!!! But we're moving onto the cha-cha after three weeks. So that doesn't give us much time! (we may end up having to retake the class, me thinks!)

In the meantime... since I will NOT be posting pictures of Dan and I dancing (or tripping for that matter) I will leave you with a very nice shot of Gilles! :D

HOpe you have a wonderfully blessed day!!!!! Check back soon for pictures of some gorgeous rugs!!!! :)

Blessings, Bren :)

Couldn't help myself...

Ok, i couldn't help it! It was just calling for me!

I sat down with it the other night after dying and working all day... exhausted... and was going to veg and watch a show with my hubby. Figured it would be nice to just sit and hook for a while at the same time. AND IT WAS!!! :D

Finished it up easter morning while the kids were hunting for eggs :)

What you can't tell, is that is a very soft old antique black... a mix of about 10 different darks. Perhaps I should have gone with browns for the border, i think now. But i am NOT ripping it out! LOL So many of the flowers were a medium to dark value, so i had limited choices, and even outlined a few of them so they would show up. But i am VERY pleased with it!! And the whole waiting thing??? Yah.. so call me a dork! LOL

I had laid it out on the floor, all finished hooking... and the next morning little miss hyper spaztic was BUSTED when i walked around the corner!! I know she loves wool as much as i do!! Think she was trying to wrap herself up in it??

haha... she wouldn't make eye contact with me ... she KNEW she was busted! LOL!!!

OH.. and one of you asked about the pattern... this is a Woolley Fox design, called "Have you any wool". If you are not familiar with their designs, you are in for a big big treat! Click HERE to go there.

Hope you have a very blessed day! :)

xo

Bren

Travelling Rug

Again, another funky picture (that i can't crop!! lol) taken with my phone. But i just HAD to show this to you!!!! I am sooo sooo thrilled!! About a year ago, an online hooking group that i belong to, decided to participate in a traveling rug "swap". We all sent off a pattern, and a journal. And 14? others hooked on our rugs. We would get one or two a month, sometimes none for a month or two. We would hook a portion and send it on to the next person. Anything went. You were free to change the design, add things in, make color choices and just have FUN!!! Ok... none of us thought it would run a year. LOLOL We truly thought it would be done in about 4 months or so. But, life has a way of getting in the way of fun plans like this!! Especially when you start it right before summer, all the gardening, travelling, company, etc! Sooooo... i just got mine back! LOL But I can't express how much i absolutely LOVE this rug!! Donchya love it? Look at all the different colors, textures, sizes of strips and heights. It's WONDERFUL!! One of the gals suggested changing the border to a wavy, more whimsical feel... and another had the guts to do it!! YAY!!! :D haha... and she wrote a note in the journal saying "bren, if you hate this, i will buy you a new pattern!" LOLOL!!! HOW CAN I HATE IT?? I ABSOLUTELY ADORE IT!! I think it just improved the design 100%! So now, I need to go and fill in the rest. Do you know how badly I want to sit and hook on this today????!!!! It is extremely windy outside right now... and cold... the perfect day for hunkerin down with a fun rug. :) But... alas.... i have to stay responsible and keep working on getting my wools dyed, trimmed and tagged for the hook-in. :( But this will be my "reward" after the hookin!! :D I can't wait! Hope you have a very blessed day! xo Brenis :)

Wool Room

Howdy! Well my computer crashed in a big way after that last post, and it's still down for the count! I haven't had the time to sit and mess with it for several weeks, as we've been so busy trying to get the Workshop up and running! We moved out of the antique shop last weekend, and finally got to pull our wool room together here at the shop!! Still more to come, but it's starting to look "worthy" of any hookers stopping by!! LOL Sorry about the quality of the photos... these were taken with my cell phone, since i have no way to upload any photos from my camera until i get my computer fixed! If you're local, come by and see us! 2699 W. Main St., Littleton, Co 80120 :) We're finally getting some models made for the classes we're offering... and everyone that comes in are soo thrilled and excited to have a creative place they can come to! Yay!!

We have our annual hook-in coming up next weekend, and I spent all day yesterday attacking a mountain of wool, and actually got 37 yards dyed!! Wow!! Even broke my own record!! LOL I was very pleased! So today i will be tackling the other 13 yards, and getting the as is wools tagged and ready to go, and drawing out some patterns. HOPEFULLY i will be ready on time! And i will take pics for you that weekend, so you will have some new "eye candy" !! :)

blessings,

Bren